Radioactive
by Mystical Authoress
Summary: AU. The apocalypse came and went, leaving behind a new mutation humans call the Inhuman. A certain organization dedicates itself to lock up any Inhuman 'for the sake of humanity' and Monica ends up getting locked up after becoming Inhuman. But while she resides there and bonds with the others there, what could some of the other Inhumans, and even other actual humans, be hiding?
1. Angel

**Author note: I do not own 'Yakitate! Japan' nor do I own the song that inspired this- 'Radioactive' by Imagine Dragons, and the cover of the song done by Pentatonix and Lindsey Stirling (hence the title of the fic because I can't think of anything better). The music videos of the same song and cover also inspired me to write this fic as well, and I don't own it either.**

**This fic is probably going to be short...maybe...Never mind, I don't know how long this is going to be. But I'm probably not going to update this often (I mean, I should****_ really_**** be working on 'Vexated Yearning' and other fics), so please be patient with updates. Thanks!**

**Warning: AU (a kind of post-apocalypse setting), slight nudity (nothing graphically mentioned, mind you-I mean, this is a T-rated fic so the worst you're going to see is probably shirtless people), violence, pairings (both implied and obvious-includes het, possible shonen-ai/yaoi and shoujo-ai/yuri). Also...Throw away everything you know about the characters, as they will be a little...Different than what you usually know them as.**

**Constructive Criticism would be great, and I hope you guys read, review and enjoy! Thanks!**

* * *

_Year 2024_

_Earth is in ruins. The apocalypse has ravaged the world to the point that a small fraction of the original population is left in existence. Some of those that have survived the apocalypse struggle to cope with what their world has become. Some of those that have survived have mutated, have become what the humans know as the Inhuman. _

_The Inhuman are unlike any human. Though they might look human, each of them have dangerous abilities-abilities that could endanger human lives. No one knows how one becomes an Inhuman; one day they are still human, and the next day they have become something else. A certain organization has dedicated themselves to lock up these Inhuman, experiment with them and make them fight each other to the death to amuse them; as well as to perhaps even try to make them become human again. Those Inhuman locked up either wish to stay the same, or to be human._

_Those that try to escape the organization have never made it out. But as for their newest Inhuman crawling into the prison of this organization, perhaps the ones originally imprisoned might have a chance to escape and live freely._

* * *

**_Radioactive_**

* * *

_I. Angel_

* * *

A young woman was brought into the headquarters. She was stripped of what she had, and forced to put on a gown of pale white, matching the wings that extended from her shoulder blades. Black handcuffs held her wrists behind her back and chained her ankles together, restraining her from trying to fight the ones leading her down the long hallway. Her long, orange hair was let down (apparently the people who confiscated her things thought that rubber bands would serve as a lethal weapon of the sort) and the only things she had now besides the gown she wore were the underclothing she had underneath.

"Move along now." One of the security officers; a woman in her early twenties with long black hair, snapped at the young one. "You are to be put through a physical examination by Dr. Kirisaki soon. I won't have you acting on such nasty behaviour in front of him. Understand?"

The orange-haired woman just nodded once and rolled her eyes. Whoever the heck this Kirisaki was, he better not try to prod her with anything or cuff her even more. That would just piss her off wholly, and she wouldn't mind beating him to nothing if he tried to pull anything on her.

She was brought into some sort of laboratory, and told that Kirisaki would arrive shortly. They then closed the door, and she heard the click of the door being locked. She was alone, with nothing but machines around her.

_Why am I here? I mean, I get the fact that I'm Inhuman, but...It's not fair! It's not fair to just go and lock up-_

Her thoughts were interrupted as soon as the door opened. Stepping into the room was a tall man, with long, blond hair that trailed down to his waist. He wore a white lab coat, with black pants and shirt underneath. The blond bangs covered some of his face from her view, but she noticed his light blue eyes, with a slight bit of nervousness emannating from them. Looking at his facial expression, she knew that he must be slightly in awe of her appearance, and maybe a little scared, too. He held a clipboard in one hand, and a pen attached to it with a small piece of rope.

_The colour black just doesn't really seem to suit this guy. _Monica thought as the man closed the door behind him, before taking a couple steps towards her until he was standing a few paces in front of her. _He doesn't seem like the gloomy type...But he's definitely somewhat scared of me. At least he's trying to be nice and hide it from me, even though he's failing immensely._

"Um...Good morning, Miss..." He looked at the clipboard briefly, before looking up at her. "Miss Adenauer." He spoke quietly.

"Please, call me Monica. Miss Adenauer just makes me sound like an old lady!" She responded, crossing her arms as best as she could while they were shackled.

He nodded once, helping Monica remove the shackles from her ankles and wrists. "My apologies, Miss Monica. I am Dr. Sylvan Kirisaki, and I will be giving you your physical examination, as Commander Yukino may have mentioned earlier before dropping you off here."

He was definitely being polite, Monica figured, and he definitley was not as rude as Yukino. He seemed to be a more trustworthy person, and Monica knew that he probably didn't seem the type to be pulling any lethal weapon on her anytime soon, as long as she didn't do anything to upset him. She figured that talking with him would be okay. Even if he did try to hurt her, she would just punch the lights out of him before he could.

"Yukino is that hag's name?" Monica asked as Sylvan gestured to her to sit down on a nearby table.

"Yes, and please don't call her a hag. She would get you killed for that." Sylvan responded as he pulled a chair over from a nearby desk for him to sit on. He wrote down a few things on his clipboard, before continuing. "Yukino is a high-ranking Commander of this organization, and she has the authority to do whatever she wants, as long as she has permission from the organization leader. If she asked him to get you killed and he permitted it, you would be dead by the next day."

The two were silent as he scribbled down a couple more notes on the clipboard, and then he got up from his chair, putting the clipboard aside, before walking over to a cupboard and opening it to reveal a large, white sheet. "Um...I know this is going to sound really weird, but could you please remove your gown and bra? You can-you can cover yourself up with this." He muttered quietly, blushing a bit with embarassment as he extended the sheet to her. "I-I mean, this is a physical examination, and I know it's probably embarassing for you but we all have to go through it...At least, all of us had to when we had other doctors to examine us prior to the apocalypse, Miss Adenauer...I won't look. Honest."

Monica let out a sigh. _Of course I should have realized something like this would turn up... _She thought to herself as she first removed the gown before taking off her bra. The older man looked away, embarassed as he extended the sheet to her and grasped it firmly, before wrapping it around her so it covered her chest. She was then asked to lie down on the table and keep still.

She heard the _click_ and _whrr_ of a machine slowly coming to life, before a soft buzz echoed through the lab. _Must be a scanner, _She figured. _Probably doing X-rays..._

The machine stopped, and then she heard Sylvan speak. "Okay, we're done with that. You can reclothe yourself now." Monica nodded as she sat up, before removing the sheet and reclothing herself quickly. She looked up to see Sylvan looking at newly printed pictures (probably of her x-ray), before he attached them to his clipboard and wrote down some notes before speaking. "You're perfectly healthy. You have the blood type AB, your bones are perfectly stable, heartbeat normal..." He smiled a little. "Everything's fine."

It seemed weird that x-rays could now identify blood types and the conditions of functioning organs, but before the apocalypse there was quite an advance in medical technology, to the point that people could five times longer in all parts of the world than they could. Of course, that brought along more population problems, and everything spirled downwards from there. "Well, that's good I guess..." Monica responded, before pointing behind her back. "What about these?" She asked, pointing to her feathered white wings.

"Well...The wing structure isn't anything irregular, and it doesn't appear to be interferring with your body in any way...I believe it should be alright, but for safety's sakes please don't try to sleep on your back too much. I fear it might bring too much pressure on the wings and most likely hurt you later on if you do so." Sylvan responded, before putting down his clipboard again. "I'll be right back, Miss Monica. Please don't wander off, I still have a few more things that need to be done. And..." He gestured to a nearby plate of cookies, on a table nearby. "You can go ahead and eat some. And before you start suspecting me of putting poison or the like, I can assure you I'm not going to kill you. I don't have the authority to kill anyone here." Monica nodded as he walked to another door and opened it, before walking into the room and closing it behind him.

Before Monica could start pondering about what could Sylvan be doing now, or deciding whether she should go grab a cookie and eat it or not, she heard a quiet rattling, echoing through the air vents. She looked up, and the rattling slowly got louder, getting closer until-

A figure with blond hair tied back in a short ponytail suddenly dropped through the air vent above, and he landed on the floor on both clawed feet. He looked around, before eyeing the plate of cookies. "Yes! Sylvan baked cookies today!" He cheered, before snatching the plate of cookies off the table and swiftly stuffing two of the cookies into his mouth. "Mmm...Hmm...Good." He muttered as he continued scarfing down the cookies. "Thumprint cookies with jam...They're good...Man, Sylvan always makes really tasty baked goods..." He then looked up, seeing Monica. His eyes widened slightly, and he swallowed before speaking. "Oh, sorry. Were the cookies for you?" He asked, handing out the plate of cookies towards Monica.

"Um...Yes." Monica responded awkwardly. She stood, continuing to stare at him. "Who are you?"

His eyes seemed to flash red for a moment, before he spoke. "You don't know who the heck I am?!" He exclaimed, nearly dropping the plate of cookies in the process. "Everyone knows me here! I'm Spencer Henry Houko, a.k.a. Shachihoko! Well, I guess I'm more known to the stupid organization housing me here as Inhuman number 203." He paused, before asking, "Hey...What's your number?"

"Uh..." Monica looked down at her white gown, reading the black number at the side of the collar. "204."

"So you're the newbie!" Shachihoko responded, grinning. "Man, I never thought I'd see some Inhuman look like an angel! You look pretty decent, despite being Inhuman, you know! I mean...You've got wings!" He spoke excitedly, pointing at her white feather wings. "That's awesome, you know! And they're kind of pretty, too-though not as pretty as you completely!"

Monica blushed slightly at the compliment, and she nodded once. "You've got scales..." Monica trailed off, looking at Shachihoko more closely. She had a point about that; as Shachihoko's skin did look like the lime-green scales of a reptile. She also noticed his eyes were flashing red occasionally, and his hands and feet were clawed. He wore the same white uniform as her, except in the form of a t-shirt and trousers.

Shachihoko looked down at himself, before responding. "Yeah, yeah, I know...I swear I looked a lot better before I became an Inhuman. But before that, I wasn't able to crawl through those air vents, you know? I think I like being an Inhuman. Sure, there are probably tons of people that hate being Inhuman and want to get back to normal, but I think I could get used to it for the rest of my life."

Monica glanced at her wings, before responding. "I'm not so sure if I could..." She trailed off quietly.

"I bet you will. Hey, can you fly with those things?" Shachihoko asked, walking a bit closer to her and starting to extend a hand towards one of her white feathery wings.

"Umm...I'm not sure-"

"Shachihoko, please unhand the cookies and Miss Monica before I am forced to shoot you with a dart tainted with narcotics." The two turned to see Sylvan, pointing a small handgun at Shachihoko as he walked towards them.

Shachihoko just let out a groan. "Sylvan, c'mon! She's the newbie around here! Can't I at least say hello and tell her a bit about this place?" He spoke as he literally just dropped the plate of cookies onto the ground. Sylvan just face-palmed himself, letting out a quiet sigh as he put the gun aside on the table where the cookies once were.

"First, it's alright to say hello, but try to give me a warning beforehand if you're going to go visit newcomers." Sylvan started. "And second, when I meant to unhand the cookies, I did not mean for you to literally drop them onto the ground! Inhuman number 148 is next, and you know he hates it if there are no cookies for him to eat!"

Shachihoko let out a breath. "You mean Katsuo, the pig dude? That sucks...Sorry 'bout the cookies. Hey, maybe I could bake a new batch of cookies for you while you're examining him-"

"Dr. Kirisaki. Is 204's examination done?" The three turned to see Commander Yukino walk into the room. She looked at the three icily, but her look was more towards Kirisaki, who nodded once.

"Yes, Commander. 204 is perfectly healthy, and her wings, they-"

"I see." Yukino cut him off, before gesturing to the shackles. "Shackle her. And that boy-" She glanced at Shachihoko with a look of disgust. "What is he doing here?"

"Well, Commander, I needed the assistance and he had the time to drop in to help. Inhuman number 148 is hard to handle on occasion, especially if there are no cookies for him. Unfortunately," He pretended to glare at Shachihoko, but Monica noticed the humor in his eyes, "He _ate_ all of them, so I was going to make him bake a new batch before 148 arrived for his examination."

"I see. You two can continue with whatever you do, and you are coming with me." Yukino finished, glancing at Monica, who was being re-shackled by Sylvan. Monica nodded once, staying silent. As she was ushered out of the room by Yukino, she turned to glance at Shachihoko and Sylvan. Shachihoko waved a little to her while Sylvan gave a quiet nod of respect, watching her go silently.

As soon as Shachihoko and Sylvan were the only people left in the room, Shachihoko spoke up.

"Hey, Sylvan, did Monica have some nice curves underneath her uniform?"

Sylvan blushed with embarassment. "I-I did not _look_ while giving the X-ray, Shachihoko, I am no pervert like you are-" He started, but Shachihoko cut him off.

"Eh, it's okay. I bet she does anyway. And who are you calling pervert, you doctor who gets to see how-many-bodies every day for physical examinations?" Shachihoko questioned, letting out a chuckle as the doctor continued blushing.

Sylvan let out a quiet sigh. "Please shush and go bake some cookies. Katsuo will be here soon, 203."

The green-skinned teen just shrugged, before walking towards a nearby door. "Whatever you say, doctor."


	2. Friend

_II. Friend_

Monica was pushed into a room after being unshackled, and the door was locked behind her. She turned, trying to open the door or something, but the action was in vain. There was no way she could unlock the door from the inside, either.

"There isn't any point in trying to break your hands pounding on that door. Just thought I'd tell you before it's too late." Monica turned to see two girls. One of them looked a little older than her, with straight, dark brown hair that flowed to her shoulders. The other girl was shorter than her or Monica, with short reddish hair. Both wore the same white uniform like Monica, but they had different black numbers on them.

Monica looked at the two carefully. "Who are you?" She asked quietly.

The red-haired girl shrugged, before responding. "Inhuman, obviously. Like you. My name's Mizuno Azusagawa, Inhuman number 198, and that's Inaho Azuma, 195." She spoke, gesturing to herself and the brown-haired woman. "You?"

"Monica Adenauer, 204." Monica responded quickly. The other two exchanged quick glances with each other, before sputtering questions simultaneously.

"You're 204?"

"The one Shachihoko stole all those cookies from?"

"Hey, wait!" Monica responded, putting up her hands to silence them. "How do you know about this?" She asked, surprised that they knew about Shachihoko talking with her earlier. "Does word travel around here fast?"

"Pretty much." Inaho answered Monica. "Word always travels around here fast, especially if there are newcomers like you that arrive." She paused, before speaking. "You're probably wondering what would make Mizuno and I 'Inhuman,' right?"

"Yeah...You guys don't look anything different than regular humans..." Monica trailed off quietly.

"Let me demonstrate my abilities." Inaho pointed at her own left leg, and Monica looked down to see a tattooed green vine with roses on it. Slowly, it seemed as if the roses and vines appeared to continue growing all over Inaho's leg, and some of the roses slowly dropped a few petals onto the floor. Monica picked one up, staring at it in amazement.

"That's amazing..." Monica trailed off.

"It's an illusion." Inaho responded, as the growing tattoo suddenly turned back to normal. The petal Monica once held vanished. "But I don't create just any old illusions, they're ones that are quite real. I didn't realize I was Inhuman at the time for having such an ability. It's fun using it."

"Wow..." Monica paused, before turning to Mizuno. "What do you do?"

Mizuno let out a sigh. "I can make things and myself levitate. Really, I don't get how that can be considered 'Inhuman!' Magicians can do it, so why am I the one being locked up!? It's not fair..." She muttered, before pointing at Monica. Monica felt a bit light-weighted, and she looked down, realizing that she literally was floating in the air. Mizuno made a downward gesture withh her hand, and Monica was lowered back onto the ground. "That's my ability. Not that I find it too useful..."

Before Monica could respond, the door opened and a man with short, raven-black hair walked into the room. He wore the same uniform like all the other security guards, and he took a deep breath before speaking. "Inhuman 195, you are to be brought to Dr. Kirisaki's lab for your physical examination."

Inaho gave a nod towards Monica, before leaving the room. "Here's some advice for survivng this place." She spoke. "Don't try to talk to Inhuman 202. He's really dangerous. And don't try to attack Yukino or any of the other people ordering us around."

Monica nodded once in response to Inaho, and she quietly wondered who this Inhuman 202 was...

* * *

"Dr. Kirisaki. Inhuman 195 is here for her physical examination."

Sylvan looked up from his clipboard, smiling. "Thank you, Kuroyanagi-kun. And please, as I have told you many times, call me Sylvan when no one else commanding is around. I'm fine with that." He responded quietly to the raven-haired man. He then turned to Inaho, and he put the clipboard down before starting to speak to her. "I'm glad I get to see you today, Inaho-san...Did you see the newcomer today, number 204?"

"Yeah, actually. I did. She's sharing the same room as Mizuno and I." Inaho responded, smiling. "She's pretty nice."

"I thought you'd like her..." Sylvan paused, as if trying to think of something else to say. "I find her to be a fascinating individual already. I do wonder if she might be able to get along with 202."

"Kai Suwabara!?" Both Kuroyanagia and Inaho spoke at the same time, surprised.

"But...Why?" Kuroyanagi asked. "What makes you think Monica would get along with Kai? Everyone else practically fears him, except for 165, Shadow, because Shadow is a complete psychotic maniac!"

"I don't know. I just...I can just feel things, and that's one of them. I know it's not very scientific or the like, but..." He paused, crossing his arms, before finishing. "And I know you all think Shadow is a maniac, but please, just because he acts, well, like he is an insane person doesn't mean exactly that he is insane. All of us have more than enough sanity and insanity inside."

Inaho and Kuroyanagi exchanged glances. Sylvan had a point. Many of the people in this building, Inhumans and actual humans alike, did share an equal amount of sanity and insanity. Of course, there were always people that went to the extremes but there was nothing they could do about it. Even if they tried to make them sane, it would only make the matter worse for everyone.

But...What would make Sylvan think that Monica would get along with Suwabara, even though they hadn't even met each other yet?


	3. Tiger

_III. Tiger_

It wasn't too long until a security guard grabbed Monica and dragged her away from her cell that she shared with Inaho and Mizuno. She wondered where she was being taken, and why. It took her a few moments to realize that she was being dragged back to the lab. This time, when she walked in however, Sylvan and Shachihoko were not the only ones in the room. Inaho was there, too, and the illusionist smiled at Monica a little.

"I apologize for bringing you back here so suddenly." Sylvan started, taking a few paces towards Monica. "But I felt that you should meet someone. He should be here soon, as Kuroyanagi-san is bringing him here."

"What's his name?" Monica asked, curious.

"Well-" Sylvan started, but then officer Kuroyanagi walked into the room, accompanied by someone that looked a few years younger than him. He had tan skin, and he wore the same white uniform as Shachihoko, except the shirt was kind-of ripped at the front, revealing a little bit of orange-and-black striped fur. A tail of the same colours was another thing Monica noticed about his appearance, as well as that his hands were more shaped like claws, like a tiger. Sylvant turned to Kai, smiling a bit. "Ah, Suwabara, you've finally arrived. I'd like you to meet Monica Adenauer, also known as Inhuman 204. Monica, this is Kai Suwabara, also known as Inhuman 202. I brought you two here because I thought you both might get along."

Kai glanced at Monica, not saying a word, before turning to Sylvan. "That's it?" He asked, crossing his arms. "You just made me come here because wanted me to meet her?"

Sylvan seemed to frown a little. "Well, I thought it would be nice for her to mingle with at least a few relatively sane people here...To help show her the ropes of how this place works more effectively." He murmured as he put one hand on his hip as a slight sharpness got into his tone of voice. "Goodness, Suwabara, please be a little more polite when the females are around. I do appreciate your honesty, but please don't be so completely blunt in a situation such as this. Commander Yukino would be outraged that I'm doing this behind her back."

"I should have known this would happen..." Shachihoko muttered quietly, but Sylvan seemed to ignore the statement. Monica wondered if Sylvan had tried to get Kai to talk with other Inhumans like her before. Obviously, if he was, it probably wasn't working out too well right now. Despite that, though, Sylvan must still be trying to get Kai a friend or acquaintance of the sorts.

Suwabara just merely gave a shrug at what Sylvan said, not saying anything. Inaho just let out a sigh, before she exchanged glances with Kuroyanagi, who nodded in silent agreement with her with whatever she might have been saying before turning towards the door. "Speaking of that devil, she's coming already." Kuroyanagi muttered, gritting his teeth.

"Crap." Sylvan muttered underneath his breath before the black-haired Commander walked in.

Yukino eyed everyone suspiciously, and especially gave a stink-eye to Monica. "What is _she _doing back here?" Yukino demanded sharply. "I thought she was at her little cell already last time I saw her."

"Well, Commander," Sylvan lied, "I realized I made a quick mistake on a few measurements, particularly on the wingspan, and so I had to call her back."

"Oh? Really?" Yukino responded, walking closer to Sylvan until they were a few paces apart. Monica noticed Kuroyanagi gritting his teeth slightly as he glared at the Commander. "And I thought the _dear_ doctor here _barely_ makes any, ah, _mistakes..."_ She trailed off as one of her hands reached towards his face.

The response she got was a tranquilizer-dart gun pointed towards the forehead. "Must I _remind_ you that there will be grave consequences whenever you attempt to try to woo me and _bed_ me?" Sylvan responded, glaring back at her. "Try anything else and I swear I'll knock you out instantly." He finished, taking a step backwards to make distance between himself and the Commander.

Yukino shook her head in disdain, before starting to leave. "Fine, then. Must you play so hard to get..." She muttered, before she shut the door behind her.

"That was too close for comfort, huh?" Shachihoko piped up.

"Shush, Shachihoko. You're not making things any better." Kai muttered, shaking his head a little. Shachihoko just gave him a little glare, also going silent as Sylvan spoke up.

Sylvan sighed, before speaking. "Really, must she try to seduce me when she has the chance to? I find it wholly annoying, and besides, she already sleeps with the Boss..."

"The Boss?" Monica asked, confused. "Who's he?"

"He's Sylvan's dad, Yuiichi Kirisaki." Shachihoko muttered, crossing his arms. "He runs the whole organization, too. I can tell you if there is anyone who is the most insane here, it's him, and that's saying something...Considering Shadow, Inhuman 165, is already insane."

"She sleeps with your father?" Monica asked, turning to Sylvan. "Don't you..._Hate_ that? I mean, _I_ would be mad if someone like her was sleeping with my parents..."

Sylvan glanced at the ground temporarily, biting his lip a little bit before speaking. "I don't really know how my father and Yukino started becoming so sexually interested in each other. The only reason she is Commander is because of him. I don't like it, but I can't argue. The Boss is my father, and...He _was_ a different man. Before the apocalypse, at least."

"Different as in better?" Inaho asked, unsure of what he meant. Sylvan just gave a quiet shrug before responding.

"Never mind about this, all of you. You have no need to be involved in this. I believe you all should go back to your rooms. I'd like a word with Kuroyanagi alone." Sylvan finished. Moments later, a few security guards walked in and led all the Inhumans out of the room.

"Sylvan, are you sure what you did just now...To Yukino...That it was alright? You know she could report you." Kuroyanagi spoke up, crossing his arms.

Sylvan shook his head. "No, Ryou. She won't do that. As much as she hates me, she is in a purely sexual relationship with my father. I don't think he'd like it if she kept complaining to him about everything, especially me as one of those subjects. Of course, if I threatened her with death, she might, but I don't like killing. I don't see the necessity of that."

The raven-haired officer shrugged a bit. "I'm just saying, Sylvan, be careful. I don't want you getting hurt by her or your father especially."

"I understand your concern for me." Sylvan responded back as the two made eye contact. "Believe me, I will be fine. You can go now."

"Thank you." Kuroyanagi paused, before walking out of the room. Sylvan let out a quiet sigh as he leaned against a nearby table. A smirk formed on his face, and he casually let one of his hands slide through his hair.

"Goodness gracious...What have I done now? And what shall happen next?" He asked aloud, a whimsical tone getting into his voice. All that answered him was the silence of the room.


	4. Chains

_IV. Chains_

Sylvan stood in the dimly-lit room, staring straight ahead at a figure across from him. "Did you sleep well last night, 165?" He asked quietly.

He heard a soft growl, before the clinking of metal chains rattled in the darkness. The figure treaded closer to Sylvan, revealing deathly pale skin and a toned upper body. Scars littered the arms and torso, and some scars were on the creature's neck and face. Dark eyes stared upwards at Sylvan through thick, messy strands of ghostly-white hair, and the doctor smiled a little bit before patting him on the head.

"A newcomer arrived yesterday." Sylvan continued, getting down on one knee to see the creature face-to-face. "Her name is Monica Adenauer, number 204. She's very nice. She has pretty orange hair, and she also has wings coming out of her back, like an angel...Have you ever seen a picture of an angel before, Shadow?" He heard a small growl, and he nodded once. "I see you have. Monica is very pretty. I had her meet 202 yesterday as well. The two seem to mutually get along, as far as I could observe."

Inhuman 165 tried to nip at Sylvan's hand, but Sylvan pulled his hand away before it could get bitten. "No, no. It's not nice to bite anyone like that." Sylvan scolded quietly. He let out a sigh, before continuing. "Yukino also tried to woo me yesterday. You can probably imagine the result."

The white-haired Inhuman let out a grunt, and Sylvan let out a soft hum before responding. "Yeah, I know how much you hate her, Shadow. I hate her, too."

* * *

"Ugh, Yukino tried to do that to Sylvan yesterday?" Mizuno spoke up, disgusted. "That stupid old hag. I thought she was fine enough with the Boss..."

"Sylvan wouldn't dare let her touch him. He even pointed a tranquilizer gun at her." Monica ended, crossing her arms. "He must really despise her..."

"Yeah, he does." Inaho responded, nodding once. "I remember him talking with me so much about how much he hates Yukino. He's so sick of her being around, hurting people and being in this relationship with his father. Maybe it's why he tries to talk with us, you know? Because we share the same hate for Yukino like he does..."

"I don't think that's the only reason." Monica responded, turning towards the brown-haired companion. "Maybe he's just lonely, or something. I don't think hatred for Yukino isn't the only reason..."

Before anyone could speak up, they heard a thump. The three froze, hearing another thump albeit louder. And without warning, a loud clatter and crash occurred as Suwabara and Shachihoko suddenly fell from the ceiling and onto the ground painfully. Neither of the girls screamed, but all of them were too shocked to say a word.

A moment of silence ensued, as Kai and Shachihoko helped each other up. And then Mizuno spoke up.

"What are you two doing here!? If any of the security guards get over here we're all _screwed!"_ She whispered frantically.

"Sorry..." Shachihoko trailed off. "Suwabara and I were making our way back to our little prison room when the vent cover-" He pointed at the metal square-shaped cover, "Suddenly broke. I think you get the rest from there."

"Can you guys get back up there?" Monica asked, looking up at the open vent.

"Probably. A bit of climbing might be needed but we should be fine. Sorry about the sudden drop-in."

Suwabara didn't say anything at first, until after he glanced at Monica, the tiger eyes piercing her own. "Sorry." She heard him mumble, before he and Shachihoko climbed onto the matresses/beds, that the girls usually slept on, and jumped back into the vent easily before the girls heard them scamper away.


	5. Maze

_V. Maze_

Monica's first few hours of the next morning were long and quite uneventful, unless one included waking up to a breakfast that looked like mushy oatmeal in a bowl. An hour or two after that, which was full of talking with Inaho and Mizuno, a few security guards ushered them to a large room, before shutting and locking the door behind them.

"What's going on now?" Monica asked, turning to Inaho.

The illusionist let out a breath before speaking. "The Boss is going to make us fight the others in a maze for about fifteen minutes. The maze walls will appear soon, and if you want to survive this place, all you can do is fight or flight. Which means any one of us could die."

"...Are there usually people that die here?" The winged Inhuman asked, cringing a bit at Inaho's last statement.

"...It's very possible. _Especially_ if Shadow is let in this room-" Mizuno started, but that was when Monica noticed something. It wasn't just the three of them in this room...There were a few other Inhumans as well, and she counted that there were about nine of them. Some looked about their age, but two of the boys, a pink-haired one and a brown-haired one, looked like they could be as young as Mizuno. Monica noticed one chubbier than the rest and looking a bit pig-like, who she figured was Katsuo. Shachihoko entered the room from the far left of them, along with Kai, who looked around quietly. He made eye contact with Monica, before pointing to his left. Monica looked ahead to see Shadow enter the room, bound by chains and led by none other than Sylvan, who tugged on the chains gently but with a firm grip.

"It's alright, Shadow...Be patient now, and you'll be freed soon enough. The fighting will start shortly. Alright?" Sylvan spoke quietly to the scarred, half-naked Inhuman, who merely let out a growl of agreement. Shadow appeared to be sniffing the air, as if he caught some sort of noticeable scent, before he also noticed Monica. A smile formed a bit on his face, revealing his razor-sharp teeth. Monica cringed slightly, before glancing at Kai, who mouthed five words to her.

_He's after you. Be careful._

Before Monica could mouth a _Thank you _or something to the tiger-like Inhuman, white walls suddenly opened up from beneath the ground, and grew to a height that doubled Inaho's own. Monica heard a buzz, and that was when she realized she was being dragged along the maze by Mizuno, who was running as quickly as her legs could carry her.

* * *

Kai stared around quietly for a moment, trying to get a sense of movement from anywhere, before starting to rush deeper into the maze.

"Hey, wait up!" Shachihoko shouted, trying to keep track of the tiger-like Inhuman, but Kai had too much of a head start for the lizard-like Inhuman to catch up. "Dang it..." He trailed off quietly, looking around. He then looked at one of the maze walls, and he knocked on it, testing for its thickness. He then grinned, before starting to climb upwards.

"Hold on a second!" Shachihoko clambered to the top of the wall, before looking down to see a familiar face. "What are you going to do now, Shachihoko?" An Inhuman about his age, with short blond hair and freckles on his face, spoke, looking up at him.

Shachihoko paused, before responding. "Kawachi, I have to take advantage of the maze somehow. And Monica's a newbie, so I'm going to go help her out. You want to join?"

* * *

"Left or right?" Monica asked as they hit a fork in their path.

"Left!" Inaho shouted, just as a tall figure crossed the corner to their right. Monica did a double take at the appearance. The faces were bird-like, with what looked like completely as not one person, but one stacked on top of the other underneath a some very long, white garments. The two arms that stuck out from the double-person-like figure were muscular, proving their physical strength and that the twin-like figure was definitely nothing to mess with.

"Dang it, they let Gran and Bob Kayser in here too!?" Mizuno muttered as the three girls ran. "Either the Boss must really want to see a bloodbath or he just went up the scale of insanity from six to nine today!"

"Yo!"

"WHOA!" Monica shouted as Shachihoko suddenly appeared in front of them. "What are you doing!?"

"Saving you from the Kayser brothers, assisted by Kawachi, Inhuman 199." Shachihoko responded quickly as he gestured to a boy about the same age as him. Monica noticed that long rabbit ears stuck out from the boy's head, and Kawachi let out a sigh.

"I can probably guess that you weren't expecting me to be part-bunny, were you?" Kawachi muttered, before Shachihoko quickly grabbed Monica and pulled up to the top of the wall. Kawachi, unfortunately, fell off the wall. Inaho caught him quickly, before the two along with Mizuno were forced to run, doing their best to avoid the Kaysers.

"What about the others-" Monica started, but Shachihoko quickly interrupted.

"We should go after them. By the way, I think Shadow's trying to sniff you out. I did notice him looking at you earlier before this all began." Shachihoko responded as the two crept along the wall cautiously.

"Kai noticed it, too, and he kind-of told me."

"Huh? That's interesting. He's never done a thing to help out anyone before like that. I wonder if Sylvan was right about the two of you possibly getting along after all..." Shachihoko paused, before speaking up. "Never mind about it. C'mon, we have to catch up with the others."

Before the two could continue, a high-pitched scream was heard, right before a cracking sound resonated not far from them.

Shachihoko took a deep breath, before speaking again. "Dang it. Shadow's already killed his first one, and it hasn't even been five minutes yet! I bet it was Tsukino he killed...Man, Mizuno is not going to be happy about this..." He trailed off, cringing slightly. "C'mon. Let's go, before Shadow spots us."

* * *

Kai shoved Katsuo out of the way, just as Shadow punched the same boy in the face. Kai almost cringed as he heard a loud crack from behind him, and he had a feeling that Katsuo was dead.

_First Tsukino, next Katsuo. Who will he try to search for next, me?_

The tiger-like Inhuman turned, expecting to see Shadow lunging at him, but the Inhuman was gone. Confusion formed on Kai's face as he looked around quietly.

_Not me? But then who-_

Kai suddenly caught a familiar scent, and he had a feeling who Shadow was tracking next.

_Dang it, not her!_

He rushed past the pig-boy's corpse, determined to get to Monica before Shadow could attack.

* * *

"There's something wrong."

Edward Kayser turned to Sylvan, who was watching the activities in the maze from the upstairs viewing room they were standing in. "What do you mean?" Edward asked, pushing a lock of brown hair behind his ear. "Is it something involving the Inhumans themselves, or is it the maze?"

"It's Shadow." Sylvan responded as he observed the maniacal Inhuman on the hunt for Monica. "He's acting more savage than usual. Did someone drug him with anything to heighten his aggressive impulses? But who? All of the food-it shouldn't be touched unless someone got their hands on-" His eyes widened, remembering the previous day's events. "Yukino. When she was trying to seduce me, she-She took that drug-She was the one who delivered his food this morning-"

Edward's eyes widened in shock. "You don't mean she-"

"She must have drugged Shadow's food! No wonder he wasn't acting normal! Dang it, why didn't I notice..." The blond doctor trailed off, before rushing out of the room.

"Sylvan, wait! You can't-You're not allowed to-"

"I don't care! I have to stop him, now!"

* * *

"This way, c'mon!" Shachihoko exclaimed as he and Monica continued to creep across the wall. Looking around, the reptilian Inhuman let out a relieved sigh. "I think we lost him. We're good..."

Before Shachihoko could continue, however, an arm shot out of nowhere, before throwing him aside. The teen landed into the side of another wall so forcefully that it fell down with him. "Shachihoko!" Monica shouted, but before she could start to go towards him, her neck was grabbed by a strong hand, and she felt herself getting lifted into the air. She turned her gaze from Shachihoko, to see the dark eyes of Shadow, full of malice and ecstasy shining quietly. Monica felt the air almost leave her lungs as his grip tightened, and she still struggled to breathe, struggled to break free from his grip.

Before Shadow could completely strangle her, Monica felt the hand gripping her throat slack by a lot as Kai tackled Shadow to the ground, letting out an enraged roar. Monica fell to the ground and she got up quickly, to see Kai and Shadow grappling with each other.

"Don't worry about me!" Kai shouted as he punched Shadow in the face. "Get Shachihoko and the others to safety!" By this point, Inaho, Kawachi and Mizuno had appeared and seen Shachihoko on the ground. They paused, before running over to him. Gran and Bob Kayser followed suite, not realizing that Shadow had just shoved Kai out of the way and was lunging at them.

The twin-like Inhuman's corpse hit the ground as blood pooled around them. Kai and Monica both let out a breath simultaneously as they looked at Shadow, who let out a harsh laugh before plunging a clawed hand into Bob Kayser's chest. He paused, before pulling out his hand from the flesh and revealing what looked like a lung, before crushing it in his hand. He then threw it aside, before letting out another laugh.

Monica couldn't believe the sight, and neither did Kai, who looked a bit pale now. It made her want to retch, but she only came up with dry coughs. Kawachi covered his and Mizuno's eyes quickly, so that they didn't have to see the gory view, but Inaho doubled over and retched bile on the bloodstained floor.

"Shadow!" Everyone turned to see someone they did not expect to be here in the maze. "Please, stop it." Sylvan spoke quietly as he slowly walked towards them. "You're not yourself-Yukino, she...She drugged your food. I should have realized it earlier before I let you in here. Just...Come over here, Shadow, please. I have the antidote for this. You can get back to your normal self. Don't you want that?" He asked quietly. Monica noticed that he was holding a syringe and needle in one hand, and he was preparing it as he continued to walk over to them.

Shadow paused, before letting out a roar and lunging himself at Sylvan, who let out a scream of fright and held up his arms to shield himself. Kai moved quickly, grabbing the crazed Inhuman by the left ankle and pulling him backwards, causing Shadow to collapse on the floor face-first. Kawachi, Monica and Inaho moved to help restrain Shadow, who tried to get up but couldn't due to almost everyone else restraining him.

Sylvan lowered his arms, before quickly walking over to Shadow and getting down on a knee. "C'mon, Shadow, please...I'm sorry, I...It's my fault. I should have figured it out sooner that you were under such an influence. Let me help you. Please." He spoke quietly, and he bit his lower lip slightly, cringing a bit as Shadow growled at him once, before Sylvan put the needle point to his neck. As soon as the drug was administered, Shadow let out a sigh, and he fell unconscious.

Mizuno let out a breath, before turning to Shachihoko, who seemed to have recovered from his fall now. "Where's Tsukino?" She asked frantically. "I saw her before the walls of the maze appeared-Did she-Don't tell me my sister is-"

"Mizuno...I'm sorry. Shadow got to her first." Shachihoko muttered hoarsely. Mizuno shook a bit, before looking downwards to avoid anyone else seeing the tears start to well up in her eyes.


	6. Talk

_VI. Talk_

"Father?" Sylvan hesitantly knocked on the office door. "It's me. Sylvan. I'd like to give you the finalized results of the maze fight today." He spoke, hoping he was loud enough for his father to hear him.

"Of course, Sylvan. Come in." A deep voice behind the door answered, and Sylvan let himself into the room. Yuiichi Kirisaki, a brown-haired man in about his mid-to-late forties, sat at a desk at the opposite side of the room. Sylvan tried his best not to make a noticeable wince as Yukino gave his father a kiss on the cheek before brushing past the two and leaving the room, leaving the two alone in the office. Sylvan sat down quietly, glancing at his clipboard quickly before he made eye contact with his father and spoke.

"Inhumans 199; Kawachi Kyosuke, 200; Azuma Kazuma, 201; Shigeru Kanmuri, 204; Monica Adenauer, 202; Kai Suwabara, 195; Inaho Kazuma, and 198; Mizuno Azusagawa are all still in perfect condition, save for a few bruises and scratches. Inhumans 167 and 168, Bob and Gran Kayser, as well as 197; Tsukino Azusagawa and 148; Katsuo, are deceased. Inhuman 165, Shadow White, was drugged prior to the maze fight so that his mental levels of aggressiveness were heightened. I know I'm not supposed to be running into the maze during the fight but I had to stop him before he went completely out of control. Shadow is now back in his cell and almost fully recovered from his formerly drugged state."

"I see...Sylvan, do you have any idea of who would have drugged 165's food this morning?"

"No." Sylvan lied, as he knew that his father wouldn't believe that it was Yukino that drugged Shadow's food. "Inhuman 203, Shachihoko, has a cracked collarbone and right ankle, as well as a sprained left arm, and therefore cannot fight nor act as my assistant for the next week's worth of physical examinations." Sylvan finished, letting out a quiet sigh. "I also would like to request that since Shachihoko is unable to act as my assistant, I would like 204; Monica Adenauer, to work with me as his replacement until he is well."

Yuiichi Kirisaki looked at him, intrigued. "Why Monica Adenauer? And so soon?" He asked. "She has only been here for three days, Sylvan. She has much to learn of what is enforced here and she must learn which lines not to cross. Do you trust her so easily?"

"Father. I understand your concern, but I believe as she has no idea of what her abilities are, she will not stand much of a chance of attacking me. She already trusts me, and I believe under my guidance I will be able to make sure she stays in line." Yuiichi's son responded politely. "I do not believe I can manage all the physical examinations myself, especially with the fact that I have Shachihoko to take care of for the next week at the least. And Monica is a fast learner, so she will become a reliable assistant soon enough."

"I see. Very well, then." Yuiichi paused, before speaking again. "You seem to be...Troubled. Is...Sophie...on your mind again?"

Sylvan nodded a little. "Y-yes, Father." He stammered slightly, cringing at the memory. "It's just...While I was watching the fight, Miss Monica-um, I mean, Monica reminded me of Sophie a bit, especially when Shadow grabbed her neck for a moment."

"And I assume Kai reminded you of yourself when you tried to defend her?" Sylvan nodded again in response. "Sylvan...You did your best to protect your sister from that wild Inhuman when it attacked the both of you three months ago. The reason I started this organization to round up all the Inhuman in existence is because of you and your sister, to protect all of humanity from their wrath. You did your very best to try to protect her. Please understand that."

Sylvan nodded once, before standing and leaving the room.

* * *

"So, you got a cracked collarbone?" Monica asked.

Shachihoko, lying in what looked like a hospital bed, nodded a little. "It sucks, you know? I mean, I have all this reptilian hide and it's supposed to be helping me not get injured as much! I shouldn't be having cracked collar bones!" He exclaimed, before letting out an exasperated sigh. "I wonder where Sylvan is; he was here earlier and he mentioned something about doing something important before coming to talk to you..."

"Monica?" Monica turned to see Sylvan enter the hospital wing. "I apologize for not finding you sooner, because I had to discuss with...The Boss about something important." He paused, before continuing. "As Shachihoko is unable to perform as my assistant for the physical examinations, I got the Boss' permission to have you as a replacement assistant until Shachihoko is all better."

"Really?" The orange-haired Inhuman asked, tilting her head to the side slightly in confusion. "Why?"

Sylvan breathed deeply, before answering. "I want to make sure that you don't get put through anything else that the other humans would do to other Inhumans. They...They experiment on Inhumans sometimes, or put them through the maze fights constantly, or torture them, or..." He looked like he just couldn't say the rest, and Monica couldn't help but feel bad for him. Perhaps the scientist had seen all this happen before his eyes and did not want to recall such events. "Or throw them into the Pit if the Inhumans are too wild for them to handle." He finished quietly, and he looked very uncomfortable with the last suggestion.

"The Pit?" Monica just got even more confused. "What...What is the Pit?"

"The Pit is where we humans dump the most wild Inhumans, the ones we cannot tame into imprisonment. Yukino has considered dumping Shadow in there several times due to his behavioural matters, but I honestly think it's her fault that she occasionally drugs him with those drugs that make him more aggressive than he really is. You do remember when he attacked you in the maze earlier, right, and killed the two Kayser brothers?" Sylvan crossed his arms, breathing once before continuing. "Shadow does like to fight to kill, but he usually doesn't take the time to extract organs from the corpses and-And-Well, you know the rest. That extreme behaviour is completely due to his aggressive levels being heightened by the drug influence. I try my best to make sure he isn't drugged before he goes into the maze or has his physical examination, but sometimes Yukino is able to find a way past my defenses in that matter. It's very exhausting for me with that alone, but if I hadn't started going against Yukino like this, Shadow would probably be already in the Pit long ago."

"Oh..." Monica thought back to when Shadow was knocked unconcious by the drug Sylvan injected into his neck. "When you injected that drug into Shadow earlier...Was that the antidote?"

"Yes." Sylvan murmured quietly, nodding once. "I-I had to get to him before he got to you or the others...Otherwise you all would have died, and it would be _my_ fault and-"

_"How_ is it your fault!?" Monica exclaimed, grabbing him by both his hands. Sylvan cringed at the sudden touch, and Monica felt a tinge of regret at what she just did. However, he made no attempt to bat her hands away, so she assumed he was alright with it, though sudden. "It's not your fault that Shadow was drugged, Yukino did it and you know it! There's nothing to blame on you for that! You've got to stop taking blame for stuff that you don't do, you know, and you need to stop blaming yourself for things that you didn't do, otherwise_ everyone _around is going to take advantage of you!"

Sylvan looked at Monica, a somewhat bewildered look on his face, before his facial expression turned to a smile. It wasn't like any way that he'd smiled at her before, no, it seemed a lot more genuine. Monica thought to herself that if there were anyone else around, their hearts might melt a bit when seeing his smile. His hands squeezed hers a little bit, before he spoke quietly.

"Thank you." He murmured softly as he looked at her straight in the eyes. He appeared to blush a little, and he let out a quiet chuckle. "I'm sorry, I suppose I'm probably confusing you by thanking you. I'm just glad that you're so kind, Monica, and that you acknowledge my existence by confronting me about this."

He looked so genuinely happy now, and Monica couldn't help but wonder if sometimes in this place that a lot of people-Inhuman and human alike-ignored him a lot. It made sense for some Inhuman, if they disliked being here a lot and didn't trust the humans, and if a lot of the humans were insensitive idiots like Yukino, that would make even more sense for Sylvan to be ignored. Monica even wondered if his father even ignored him sometimes. It must have been lonely for Sylvan to be slaving away in the lab, even if Shachihoko was there as an assistant to help sometimes. No wonder he opened up to her so easily, he just simply hated being alone.

Maybe that explained why he introduced Kai to her, too. Perhaps he didn't want the tiger-like Inhuman to be alone, and that he thought Monica would be a good companion to him and maybe help him open up a bit.

"Hello...What about me?" The two turned to see Shachihoko, who basically snipped the current conversation in two. "You know, Sylvan, I didn't think you liked Monica that much." The lizard-like Inhuman remarked, letting out a smirk after that.

Sylvan seemed to blush even deeper of embarrassment as Monica let out a quiet laugh. "Shachihoko! Dang it, it's not like that!" He muttered, looking away slightly and letting go of Monica's hands, wrapping his arms about himself as if he was shivering.

Monica smiled a bit. She was glad that she could help Sylvan, especially after all he'd done to help her so far.


	7. Rumours

_VII. Rumours_

Monica's experience working with Sylvan for the next week was definitely somewhat enjoyable. It felt weird that Sylvan wouldn't let her touch most of the stuff, but he insisted on it, saying that he didn't want her hands getting dirtied doing too much of his work. At least he taught her how to use that X-Ray machine for the physical examinations, though. Besides that, she was mostly spending her time baking batches after batches of cookies for the Inhumans that came for their physical examinations. It wasn't too bad being around Sylvan as he worked, actually, considering that she got to see many Inhumans and talk with them a bit. She even got to see her roommates, Inaho and Mizuno, at least once, too.

She heard the rumours of what was going on outside the lab. Edward Kayser had apparently gone into grieving for his fallen brothers, Gran and Bob, and Shadow had been acting slightly more humane lately, too. Monica suspected the latter probably happened because of Sylvan installing more laser and camera security in the storage rooms a few days ago, where all sorts of drugs were kept, and more security meant that Yukino would have a harder chance of drugging Shadow when she wanted to. She felt bad for Edward, despite her not really knowing who he was besides the fact that he was a human, and she voiced this to Sylvan, who explained to her who Edward was, exactly.

"Edward Kayser...He's another one of the scientists here. He often oversees the maze fights, and Gran and Bob were his brothers. He wanted to get them back to normal so badly but now that they're gone...I'm not sure what he'll do now."

Shachihoko was recovering well from his injuries from the maze fight, and the lizard-like Inhuman even mentioned to Monica of Kai dropping in to visit a few times.

"He's getting a lot better at sneaking around in those air vents." The blond remarked, grinning a bit. "Maybe I'll try to have him visit you sometime, you know, besides the occasionaly physical examination? So you don't get too lonely."

Speaking of physical examinations, Monica only them realized that she hadn't seen Kai for a physical examination yet. She had a good feeling, though, that it would come very soon.

* * *

"Sylvan?" Monica let out a sigh as the older man turned from the X-Ray machine to see her.

"What is it?" He asked quietly, albeit a bit hoarser-sounding than usual.

"I think you're sick."

"What?" He asked, making a bit of a face in disbelief. "I don't think so-"

"You look like you're shivering like mad, you've been sniffling a lot and you sound way hoarser than usual! Even I can notice that even though you're trying to cover it up!" Monica responded, before grabbing his arm and pulling him back towards his room, which was attached to the lab by a nearby door. "Get back to bed!"

"But there's a physical examination I have to do today-" Sylvan started protesting, but she shushed him quickly.

"No buts! You need sleep, after you get some medicine or whatever you use to kill fevers! Do you know where it is?"

"...At the kitchenette section of my room. In the upper cupboard to the right of the fridge. It should be there, with the label 'medicine for sick people' on it." He muttered quietly. "I need to drink something while I'm taking it, so can you get some water as well?"

"Sure." As soon as they both got into Sylvan's room, Monica seated him quickly at a nearby table and took the bottle of medicine pills out of the cupboard, before placing that right in front of him. She then got a cup from another cupboard, before filling it with some distilled water from the fridge (she wasn't sure if it was okay to drink the tap water) and putting that in front of him as well.

"Thank you." He murmured after he took the medicine and drank the glass of water. "I suppose I should get some sleep. If you need any help, don't hesitate to wake me up, alright? And don't forget to give 202 cookies after he's done his examination, alright?"

202? Wait, that meant...

Kai Suwabara was coming for his physical examination very, very soon.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Kai asked as soon as he walked into the lab, a slightly confused look upon his face at the sight of her.

Monica let out a sigh. "I thought Sylvan would have told you that I was replacing Shachihoko temporarily because he's injured..." She trailed off quietly.

Kai took off his shirt quickly and lay on the table. Monica pressed a button to start the X-Ray machine as he spoke up again. "He did? Wait...Oh, right. I forgot for a second..."

Monica looked at the results, before speaking up. "You're fine, according to all of this." She responded, holding up the papers with statistics and words printed on them. "If you're wondering where Sylvan is, he's asleep. He's sick."

"He got sick? That's new..." The tiger-like Inhuman trailed off as he sat up, crossing his arms. "I've never heard of him getting sick before."

"Neither have I." Monica agreed. She paused, before grabbing the nearby plate of cookies and offering it to Kai, who took one of the cookies and bit into it.

"I'm just wondering...Have you heard of the rumours circulating around Sylvan?" He asked.

"Rumours? Like what? I know that the Boss is his dad and he hates Yukino, if that's what you mean..." She trailed off, confused.

"No, not that. Everyone knows that." Kai paused, finishing up the cookie before continuing. "Some people say that it's possible that he might be an Inhuman in disguise, working amongst the humans to find a way to free all the rest of us trapped here. Others say that he has his own goals and behind his polite behaviour is someone that is manipulating everyone he can to obtain said goals. Some people don't think he's an Inhuman in disguise but they do believe the part about finding a way to free the rest of us, and some say he's plotting to kill Yukino and his father."

"...I don't think Sylvan would be the type to kill anyone...I can't imagine that." The winged Inhuman replied quietly as she took a cookie from the plate and bit into it herself. "I mean, he doesn't even have the authority around here to do so without the Boss' permission."

"You don't need permission to take out a weapon and kill someone with it, really. I honestly think he's just obeying his father just because he wants to make sure his father is pleased with him." The tiger-like Inhuman responded. "It's better for you to keep up your guard. Maybe it's good that he seems to trust you, but who knows what intentions he might have underneath..."

"Kai. Do you seriously think some of those rumours are true?" Monica asked, putting the plate of cookies aside. "Because...I don't. There's no way someone as kind as him would hurt anyone. Right?"

Suwabara just shook his head, just as a security guard came to retrieve him. "...Figure it out yourself."


	8. Denial

_VIII. Denial_

"What? I'm sorry, but I don't believe I heard you correctly..." Sylvan trailed off as he poured another cup of tea for Monica.

Monica couldn't keep the rumours about Sylvan to herself. She knew she had to tell him about it eventually, and since she still had this time working with him, she might as well bring it up while the two were having a snack break inbetween physical appointments.

"Yeah...Kai mentioned that some people think you're some Inhuman in disguise, or you're trying to manipulate all of us into obtaining your goals or you want to kill Yukino and your dad." The orange-haired Inhuman responded, before taking a sip of the tea from her cup.

Sylvan, who just bit into a ladyfinger, swallowed as soon as he heard the end of the statement, and he hesitated before responding. "Well, Monica, I can certainly tell you that I am completely human, and that I do not wish to kill either Yukino or my father for obvious reasons. And the manipulating one...How would they know if it's true or not? They don't know what my goals are."

"Then...What are your goals, exactly?" Monica asked, tilting her head to the side in curiosity.

Sylvan paused, pouring himself a cup of tea, before putting the teapot down and answering. "Well, to be quite honest, I think my goal is to prove to the humans that...That Inhumans are just as human as they are. And maybe vice versa, if I have to bring it to the extreme to get my point across."

Monica smiled a little. "I think that's a good goal."

Sylvan nodded once. "I think so, too." He paused, before standing-

And he suddenly collapsed onto his knees, holding onto the table with one hand, with the other hand on the floor, trying to balance himself. Unfortunately, he lost grip of the table and he fell sideways onto the ground, groaning a bit in pain.

"Sylvan!" Monica quickly stood and rushed over to his side. "Are you alright?" She asked frantically. "Don't tell me you're still sick-"

"I'm not...I...It was just a headache." Sylvan managed to say as Monica helped him sit up. He took a breath before continuing. "It's nothing, really...I get these sorts of things occasionally, and they're so mind crippling that I have to lean against something or sit down on the floor. I'm okay now. Really."

"Are you sure?" The winged Inhuman asked, skeptical of his answer. Sylvan nodded, before the two stood. "Well, if that's what you say..."

* * *

"Where is she?"

Sylvan turned to see Kai and Shachihoko, who just entered the room via air vent crawling.

"Pardon?" Sylvan asked as Kai approached him.

"Where's Monica? I thought she would be with you..." The tiger-like Inhuman trailed off quietly, looking around.

"Ah, she was already sent back to her room about an hour ago. Sorry, Suwabara." Sylvan responded quietly, before looking at some test results.

"Hey, what's this?" Shachihoko asked, plucking the papers from Sylvan's hand. Sylvan tried to snatch it back, but Shachihoko pulled it away before he could retrieve it. The lizard-like Inhuman looked at it carefully, before turning to Sylvan. "You were physically testing yourself?"

"Self-regulation." Sylvan muttered in response. "I just...Well..."

"Why? Do you think you might be some Inhuman?" Kai asked, curious.

Sylvan shook his head. "No, no. I checked the results already." He explained. "I'm not Inhuman. I'm still...Well...Classified as a human."

Shachihoko paused, before taking a deep breath and speaking. "Sylvan...Um...I thought I'd drop in here to tell you something. It's about Edward. Kai just came along because he wanted to talk with Monica."

Sylvan blinked a bit, before responding. "I talked with Edward about three hours ago. Is there anything wrong with him that I should know? He seemed fine earlier...He mentioned something about wanting to visit Shadow." He finished, crossing his arms.

"He..." The reptilian Inhuman paused, before continuing. "He did visit Shadow, about an hour ago. And...He brought the drugs that Yukino used on Shadow to make him go berserk in the maze with him. Sylvan...Edward technically committed suicide by forcing Shadow, under drugged influence, to kill him. The other security guards-Me-We all tried to stop it as soon as we realized what happened, but...We were too late. I'm sorry."

Sylvan's eyes widened, and he appeared to tremble a bit at the sudden news. One of his arms fell to his side while the other put a hand to his mouth, apparently too shocked to say a word. He then ran out the door, not saying a word.

Kai turned to Shachihoko. "We should...Probably watch the lab for him." He muttered quietly, glancing at the door Sylvan just ran through before making eye contact with Shachihoko.

Shachihoko just nodded in response.

* * *

Ryou Kuroyanagi let out a sigh as he leaned against a nearby wall. He couldn't believe what had occurred just a little over an hour ago. He'd heard stories, before the apocalypse, of people committing suicide because of being overwhelmed with grief, but he'd never actually heard of any stories that were location-wise or people-wise close to him. Not until now.

He hadn't been there, but he should have noticed something was wrong with Edward when the brown-haired scientist walked past him earlier. Something very wrong was with Edward, and Kuroyanagi had failed to notice it until it was far too late.

He blinked out of his thoughts to see Sylvan, who had just turned into the hallway Kuroyanagi was now patrolling. The two paused, looking at each other, before Kuroyanagi spoke up.

"I'm guessing you heard about him?"

Sylvan just nodded, walking over to the younger man and not saying a word.

Kuroyanagi breathed deeply, before continuing. "I never thought this would happen."

Sylvan nodded once. "Nor did I."


	9. Unraveling

_IX. Unraveling_

The tiger-like Inhuman sat in the corner of his room thinking to himself, while Shachihoko was napping in a nearby cot. There were a few things he didn't understand, and he was glad to have this silence so he could think through things properly enough.

The first thing that came up in his mind was Monica. What number was she again? 204? Right. He wondered how she was right now, assisting Sylvan with his work. Even though Shachihoko was all better, Sylvan had insisted on keeping Monica as a helper, too, saying that he suddenly had much more work than expected and that while Monica baked the cookies, Shachihoko could run through the physical examinations. Sylvan himself would look through the results and see what needed to be done from there. Kai supposed it was nice of Sylvan to do something like this for Monica, to keep her away from being experimented with or being put in those maze fights again.

He then thought about Sylvan, about what happened earlier when he tried to see Monica and was too late. The older man looked so...Frail and frightened. Or worried. Yes, perhaps worried was the word Kai was looking for to describe the scientist. And what in the world was Sylvan thinking when he performed that physical examination on himself? Was he worried that he was becoming Inhuman or something?

Kai paused for a moment, before shaking Shachihoko awake, intent on going back to the lab as soon as possible.

* * *

"He's here." Yukino's cold voice echoed from above Shadow's grunts and growls as the two entered the lab. She handed the chains restraining Shadow's limbs to Sylvan, who led the Inhuman to the table and let him lie down, before starting the x-ray machine. "...You've been awfully quiet, Sylvan."

"This is the first time you've noticed, whenever it's just me alone in this lab with you around." Sylvan responded, glancing away from Yukino and looking at the results. "Shadow is fine, by the way. Monica should be getting some cookies for him right now."

The raven haired Commander ignored the last statement, walking over to the blond and facing him. "Oh, I've noticed it, actually. It's just that I didn't bother to comment on it until now." She responded cooly, putting her hands on her hips. "There are some things I actually need to talk to you about in private." Sylvan nodded quietly, before the two walked through another door.

Monica walked out of Sylvan's room, carrying a plate of freshly-baked cookies, just in time to see Shadow. The white-haired Inhuman looked at Monica quietly, not saying a word. "I forgot that you were next..." Monica trailed off as she walked over to the Shadow, offering the plate of cookies to the Inhuman. Shadow grabbed a few cookies in one hand and shoved them into his mouth as she continued speaking. "Huh...Where's Sylvan?"

Shadow pointed at two silhouettes from behind a nearby door, conversing with each other. Monica knew well that the room those two were in was where the blood samples of each of the Inhumans were kept for examination, for research.

_"Is it true that you plan on figuring out a way to release the Inhumans from this place?" _Yukino asked coldly.

_"Of course not." _Sylvan lied in response. _"If I did, I would be thrown in the Pit, would I not? And what would you know about me, anyway, besides the fact that you either see me as some annoying cockroach or someone to use as a replacement for my father for whatever the two of you do in your spare time?"_

_"You-" _There was the sound of breaking glass, and Sylvan let out a something that sounded like a gasp. _"You-How dare you! You're so used to being around those other Inhumans, let's see you try the taste of their blood!"_

_"Ow! No! Dang it, Yukino, I'm telling you to-" _There was a choking sound that cut off whatever Sylvan was going to say next, before a thud resounded after that. Monica and Shadow exchanged glances, before the two rushed over to the door and flung it open. Inside, broken glass vials were strewn onto the floor, with Yukino having her foot on Sylvan's head, keeping it close to the blood-splattered ground to the point that he was forced to lick the blood off the tiled floor.

"Leave him alone!" Monica shouted, pushing Yukino backwards. The Commander let out a snarl, taking out a gun, but before she could pull the trigger, everyone heard a louder growl. Monica, Shadow and Yukino paused, realizing that there was only one other creature in this room that could have made that sound besides Shadow, who hadn't uttered a word or sound at all since entering the room.

Sylvan stood quietly, one eye crimson and glaring straight at Yukino was he licked some blood off his clawed left hand.

* * *

Screams resounded as Kai and Shachihoko crawled through the air vents, and Kai quickened his pace. He swore if that was Monica screaming for help, that certainly wasn't good and he really didn't want her getting hurt by whoever or whatever it could be causing the people in the room to scream in horror.

The two smashed the air vent cover open, before dropping onto the ground of the lab and discovering the scene laid out for them.

Shadow, standing in front of Monica; Yukino, her corpse having been ripped open; and Sylvan, covered in blood and standing in a more hunched position; one of his eyes completely blood-crimson in colour and growling at Shadow.

"What in the world...?" Shachihoko started, but that was when Sylvan noticed Kai and Shachihoko and lunged at them. Kai immediately prepared to pounce at the blond, to attack, but Shadow let out a roar and tackled the older man out of the way. The two snarled, clawed and punched at each other, as if trying to kill each other.

"Stop it!" Monica shouted, rushing at the two and trying to restrain Sylvan, but the scientist just smacked her away with his arm to prevent her from getting hurt. Unfortunately, his shove was a bit rougher than he intended, and she fell backwards, onto the floor.

"Monica!" Kai ran to her side, helping her up. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine...But I can't say the same for Sylvan! Something's wrong, and I swear it's all Yukino's fault! She made him drink blood samples of the rest of us and this is what happened!" Monica exclaimed. "I don't get it...Was it our blood that made him like this, or maybe he actually is Inhuman, or...?"

"No time to answer that!" Shachihoko shouted as he and Shadow tried to restrain Sylvan. "C'mon, help!" Monica and Kai grabbed Sylvan's arms, and Shadow and Shachihoko grabbed his legs.

"Snap out of it, Sylvan!" Kai shouted at the older man, who continued to struggle in their grasp. "C'mon!" Sylvan let out a snarl, before suddenly throwing Monica, Kai and Shachihoko out of the way somehow and tackling Shadow to the ground again. The two wrestled with each other, snarling and hissing, and just as Shadow was about to punch Sylvan's face-

A tranquilizer dart embedded itself into his arm. Shadow stared at it in horror, before drifting into unconsciousness and collapsing onto Sylvan completely. Ryou Kuroyanagi rushed into the room, accompanied by several other security guards, and pushed Shadow's body off Sylvan, who was gasping for breath and staring up at the ceiling. As soon as Ryou entered Sylvan's line of sight, he seemed to panic more, and tried to sit up.

"Hey...It's going to be okay, Sylvan." Kuroyanagi told him, holding him closely. "It's going to be okay..."

"What about Shadow...?" Sylvan tried to speak, but he nearly collapsed completely in Kuroyanagi's arms, weak from the fighting that he wasn't aware of committing.

"He'll be going into the Pit." Yuiichi Kirisaki's voice echoed in the ruined lab, and everyone turned to face him. "He's had more than enough chances, and him going to attack you like this, Sylvan, is more than just crossing the line."

"But..." Sylvan seemed to want to say more, but he fell into unconsciousness as well. Yuiichi Kirisaki and all the security guards left, dragging Shadow behind them, except for Kuroyanagi, who continued to hold Sylvan gently.

Shachihoko, Monica and Kai exchanged grim expressions with each other, before Monica spoke up. "We should...We should get Sylvan to the infirmary. And...Clean up the lab..." She trailed off quietly. The others just simply nodded with agreement.

Things were unraveling.


	10. Plotting

_X. Plotting_

Sylvan was so silent now. That was one thing Monica noticed. He barely tried to pick up a conversation with her, and sometimes she heard him mumbling things to himself. Monica couldn't help but think that he might be blaming himself for Shadow being thrown into the Pit, just like how he'd been a bit sorrowful when Edward technically committed suicide.

But then again, despite how silent he was to her, his quiet, whispered rantings to himself were those that were begging to be heard by others, and they eventually were heard when he actually spoke them aloud.

"Finding out that I am actually now Inhuman was not in my plan."

"What?" Monica asked, turning towards him. "What plan, exactly?"

Sylvan let out a sigh, before answering. "Monica. I suppose I should have told you long ago, but...The rumours about me are somewhat true. I _am_ actually planning to break out all the Inhumans in this place, even the ones in the Pit." He paused, before making eye contact with her. "Shadow was going to be included in the plan, but he's in the Pit now, so there's a slight disadvantage in terms of attack against the other security guards. However, Kai and Shachihoko are good fighters, and can also crawl through the air vents, which is vital to my plan. Kuroyanagi is also in on the plan as well, and he'll basically provide a distraction for a couple security guards in the more guarded areas where some Inhumans are kept, as well as hacking into the whole security system and shutting it down."

"So Kai was right..." Monica trailed off. _I wonder if Kai actually knew if it was true? He probably did know, but he kept that a secret because he probably didn't trust me too much during the time..._

"Yes, I suppose he was. Except...I would never kill my father. Despite what atrocities he has committed through me and everyone working for him, to every Inhuman that is brought here, I can't...I can't do that. I doubt I would become that savage. Speaking of savageness, in the case I do become savage to the point beyond control, I want you, Kuroyanagi, Shachihoko, Shadow or Kai to kill me if it comes to that."

"I can't believe that-You're actually going to-" Monica paused, her eyes wide at the statement, before finishing. "You're planning your own death?"

"..._Only_ if necessary. If I'm still sane, you don't have to kill me." Sylvan crossed his arms as he continued. "I'm planning on consuming some blood samples for the plan. As far as I calculated, my Inhuman part of me activates whenever I consume the blood of any living creature, except for myself. Becoming my Inhuman form causes me to have increased strength, speed and agility, as well as increased action based on emotion, but decreases sanity and clear thinking. If I lick wounds, they'll heal themselves immediately. I tested that part out last night while I was recovering in the hospital wing."

Monica couldn't help but think the second-last statement was a tad disgusting, and not very hygienic but she supposed it would be helpful if one got wounded in battle.

But, there was one other thing she needed to know, and she didn't hesitate to ask about it.

"Did you plan on putting me in your little plot?" She asked.

"...Pardon?"

"Did you plan on putting me in your plan to get the Inhumans out of this stupid place?" She repeated, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Were you pretending to be my friend, to use me like a puppet in your master plan, or were you being genuine in telling me about almost everything?"

"...Both. Though, to be honest, it was leaning towards the former side, I suppose..."

She couldn't help but punch him in the face, hard. Sylvan didn't do anything to resist her, and blood trickled from his cut lip, as well as from her now bloody knuckles.

"You know, I trusted you." The winged Inhuman started. "I trusted you from the very beginning. I thought that there was someone who understood me besides any Inhuman here. And I can't believe that you were using me like that. You're_ sick."_

Sylvan didn't say anything at first, but then after a moment, he responded.

_"...That really hurt." _

It was a tone of voice that wasn't like him that said the three words.

She felt herself getting pinned against a nearby wall, her neck forcefully grabbed by Sylvan's hand. One of his eyes was a bright crimson.

"Do _you _know how much I trusted you?" Sylvan started, restraining himself from strangling the girl completely. "I trusted you with words I wouldn't dare let my father hear. I trusted that you wouldn't try to interfere with my work, even if your curiosity piqued your interests in my work any further. I trusted that I could do everything I could to protect you from not just the other humans, but also this bloody beast inside of me, the beast that wants to spill Yukino's blood and bring wrath on the humans. I suppose I was wrong to trust you at all. Heck, I couldn't even protect my sister Sophie when she was attacked by an Inhuman, nor could I protect Shadow from the Pit or Edward from suicide! Why did I_ bother_ to think that I could protect you!?"

He threw her onto the ground, and he raised an arm, as if about to strike her. He hesitated, before the arm dropped to his side. He fell onto the ground on his knees, putting his head in both hands.

Monica stared at him quietly, before sitting up to face him. She wasn't sure what to do, but she slowly extended a hand to him, carefully and cautiously.

The next thing both knew, she touched his cheek quietly with the hand. He made eye contact with her, and there wasn't as much crimson in his eyes as there was before. He looked like he was about to cry, or spill tears, but he was holding it back.

"...And I reveal my past in the process." He muttered quietly. "I should have known that bottling things up in my head never works in the end. Manipulating makes things worse. How stupid of me, to think I could play the cards in my favor...I'm sorry, I swear I'm sorry, I-I-" His voice collapsed into shudders, into coughs and sobs.

Monica took a handkerchief out of his coat pocket and held it to his face, wiping up the tears the best she could.

He just quietly extended a hand and touched her face quietly.

Two seconds later was all it took for him to kiss her lightly, on the forehead.

Three seconds after that, she gave him a tight hug back.

Neither one knew that things would just continue unraveling.


	11. Conflicted

_XI. Conflicted_

Kai felt extremely conflicted at the moment.

The thing was, he actually wanted, yes, _wanted_ to know if Monica was alright.

But...Why? Did he actually feel that much concern for her? It wasn't even like she was physically damaged that much during Sylvan and Shadow's fight earlier.

Before she came around, he would just mind his own business, really. Okay, there was the exception of looking out for Shachihoko, who he feared a few times would get in trouble for running around in the air vents; and looking out for Sylvan, who was emotionally fragile about almost everything that went on in this organization that he was a part of. But besides that, he would just mind his own business.

But then, Monica came along, and since then he actually started feeling concern for someone other than himself, Sylvan, or Shachihoko. It was weird, at first. He had to admit that it was weird. It wasn't like him to feel concern for anyone-not too much, anyway-and everyone knew him to not be such a soft-hearted person.

He wasn't really sure of it completely. All he knew was that he felt concern for her. Unfortunately, he didn't really know why.

* * *

"Monica."

Monica turned to see the tiger-like Inhuman jump onto the laboratory floor from the air vent above.

"Kai..." The angel-like Inhuman paused, before speaking. "What are you doing here?"

"I had to know if you were alright, Monica." Kai muttered quietly in response, walking over to her. "I mean...About what happened earlier..."

"I'm okay, Kai." Monica spoke, looking up at him. "I'm alive. I'm not in the Pit or dead."

"...Well, that's good I guess." Kai paused, before speaking up again. "Where's Sylvan?"

"I think he's asleep. He mentioned something about getting some rest earlier."

"I see..." Kai made eye contact with her quietly. "Did you ever hear about his plans?"

"Yeah. I know about them now. And about his dead sister, too." Monica paused before continuing, crossing her arms as she talked. "It's terrible that he lost his sister to some wild Inhuman. I understand why his father started this organization in the first place now, but it's really getting out of hand. Sylvan can see that. It's no wonder that he wants all of the Inhumans out of this place...So that they won't be treated like test subjects anymore."

"I know." Kai paused, before continuing. "Monica...Um...I never told anyone, except for Sylvan and Shachihoko who were there, about what I'm going to tell you. Can you keep it a secret?"

Monica nodded. "I can."

"Good." The tiger-like Inhuman paused again, before speaking. "After the apocalypse struck...My mother died. I don't know what happened to my father, because I never found him. I also had a sensei who taught me about the ways of the samurai. He died in the apocalypse, too."

Monica said nothing as he continued. "I was forced to take care of my younger siblings, who also transformed into Inhumans, but then Yuiichi Kirisaki found us, and...They were all used in experiments, except for me. Kirisaki _claimed _that it was because younger ones could deal with more pain than older ones, but I disagree completely. They all _died_ because of him!" His hands balled into fists as he finished. "I can't forgive him for that...And that's why I'm going along with Sylvan's plan to break us all out. So that no more people like my siblings have to suffer the same fate."

Kai looked very upset by the end of his story, and Monica felt unsure of what to do. Thankfully, that was when the tiger-like Inhuman spoke up again.

"What about you? What was it like for you before you came here?"

Monica paused, before she spoke quietly. "My mom and dad both died in the apocalypse. All I did before then was scrounge around for whatever was edible. I tried to help out other survivors, during my time as a human, but after I became an Inhuman, everyone just started avoiding me. I couldn't do anything to get help, and the next thing I knew I was locked up in here." She let out a sigh. "I'm sorry about your family, and your sensei."

"I'm sorry about your mom and dad, too." Kai responded. "Monica...We're going to get out of here, soon. All of us. We'll make it through this." The two made eye contact, and only realized then that they were holding hands with each other.

It was the first time the two actually touched.

Behind the door to the room where all the blood samples where kept, Sylvan leaned against the door, smiling a bit before letting out a quiet sigh.

Tomorrow was going to be quite a day.


End file.
